READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
1 Kings 17:17-24
Ephesians 3:13-21
St. Luke 7:11-17
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. (Rom 1)
Who speaks you this morning saying,
“And when the Lord
saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’”
From today’s readings, we are presented with two mothers.
Two mothers that have lost something very important and two mothers who, quite
understandably, put full faith in the Resurrection of the dead. For if there is
no resurrection from the dead, not only will their sons not be returned to
them, but having children in the first place becomes meaningless.
In this way, belief in the resurrection of the dead is
pretty much completely logical, even from the very beginning of all things, for
life is meaning-full. Yes, the Lord takes joy in creating every lily of the
field the same way He did from Day 1, year after year and never tires of it,
but even in those feelings coming from His work in Creating all things, we can
get a taste of eternity. In that, He would not mind spending eternity creating
lilies.
And our God is not just a simpleton gardener, oblivious to
all else. He has become a Son Himself, thus teaching us all that He is not just
raising and ruling nature, but also raising His own family. And yet, after all
that perfect effort He goes through, something or someone has trampled the
vineyard and destroyed the family.
We meet both our mothers today in the aftermath of such a
tragedy. Their precious lilies that they nurtured and raised in a family have
been stolen. Yes, stolen. It is not just the “circle of life” and it is not
“just how it goes”. Life has been stolen and it is not right.
But this belief about life taking priority and precedence
does not come from nature. No, you will not find funeral rites, or memorials,
or cemeteries in nature.
Kill or be killed. Dog eat dog. When talking about the
resurrection, here is where it beinsspeaks against reincarnation. To continue
to be killed over and over again is nothing to believe in. Not a circle, but a
loop of despair with no hope of relief.
This belief about life being of infinite value also does not
come from philosophy. The best the greatest minds can come up with is
“preservation of self”, even more foul and specific: the genetic self.
Preservation of self means solitude and sterility; a loss of life which is not
to be confused with individualism. It is such a loss of life that, engraved in
this so called “humanism”, is the perpetual goal of reducing the world’s
population. Well, I say, them first.
And yet the world runs on nature and this philosophy. Our
crony-businessmen, so-called scientists, and politicians cannot understand
anything outside of the material world which they can touch, smell, taste, see,
and hear. And if that’s the case, why are these mothers getting so upset? Why
are they so concerned about a clump of cells that happen to walk and talk? Why
are they crying over dust and ashes?
Repent! You speak a good game about valuing life, but why do
you value it? You try to talk about love and togetherness, but death steps in
to disprove your thoughts and feelings. You then turn in on yourself and begin
self-preservation just as the world has taught you to do.
So why do you value life?
I’ll tell you the only reason you and everyone else on earth
values life: the resurrection. You may think that’s crazy, but when life
doesn’t have an ending, that is when it becomes more valuable. Don't believe
them when they say “live like there’s no tomorrow” or “live like you were
dying” as if some horrible fear could coax people into being good.
Dear Christians, we live like there is a tomorrow, because
there is. We live like we are going to live, not die, because we will. And our
Lord points us this way in holy Scripture heard today. For at one point in
time, sons were lost. But at the next point, sons were regained. “You were dead
in your sins, now you are alive towards God”.
There is a tomorrow because of the resurrection of Jesus
Christ, Who with His own flesh and blood ended the cycle of death and made a
living way into the most holy place in front of God, for us His fellow priests
(Heb 10:20). As His fellow priests we can tread where no priest has gone
before. By faith, we have access to the heavenly Jerusalem. The Heavenly
Jerusalem that is filled with life, the everlasting kind.
Through His flesh, says Hebrews 10:20, Jesus consecrates a
Living Way for us. Flesh and blood as we know it has an end. We are reminded
each and every time we pass a cemetery or a treasured photograph. But the Flesh
and Blood of God. What would that be like? Like shining gold? Indestructible?
Immortal?
But then what do we make of God dying on the cross? Only
this: that God’s flesh and blood are so indestructible and immortal that not
even death can tarnish it. The Flesh and blood of Jesus Christ remain alive and
retain their immortality even in death and even when served in bread and wine.
This nature and philosophy do not teach. Only God in His Word.
But even when God preaches and teaches, it does not make it through thick,
sin-filled heads. So He must engrave it and tattoo it upon flesh and blood. He
must not only preach and teach, but take action and give object lessons.
And the object lesson of Christ Crucified is that life is
not only what we can touch, smell, taste, see and hear. It is not only the
material world around us in nature. It is not only the logical ramblings of
philosophy. It is also filled with love, because there is a God Who created all
things and loves all the things He created and wants to keep them around
forever.
So the Son of God teaches this lesson. He is conceived by
the Holy Ghost and born of His mother. He also is robbed of His life, leaving
His mother behind. He enters death’s treasury and pillages the whole lot. He is
the Son Who comes back in order to bring all other sons back. Our God and
Savior, Jesus Christ, with His own Flesh and Blood not only straddles heaven
and earth, but life and death, bringing heaven to earth and life to death.
Here now is the true weight of the Promise and belief in the
Resurrection. That Life wins in Jesus. That Jesus lives and we will live in
Him. Our two mothers today place all of their faith and hope in that promise,
because it is a promise for all time, not just for one day. So too, our mother,
the Church, repeats that promise to you every chance she gets in the Divine
Service.
We have said it before, but the real problem is not solved
by Jesus raising these two sons to life again, just to die later on. The real
solution lies in the Body of Christ which has died and risen again on its own.
The real resurrection is only gained by being united with that Body.
This is why it is so important to Jesus to create His Church.
This is why it is so important to us, really a life or death situation, that we
be in Church. But being in the Lord’s Church does not just mean keeping a pew
warm. It means communing with and interacting with the God Who comes down to
the Divine Service with us.
It means having Jesus drape Himself over us, not just three
times, but infinity times in baptism, covering the multitude of our sins for
all time. It means having Jesus approach our funeral bier, bring a halt to
death’s celebration over our dead body, and institute the Feast of Life with
His alive Body, feeding us immortality and light.
It is only in this way, in this faith, and in this church
that the words of Jesus, “Do not weep”, bring comfort instead of anger and
sorrow. It is only knowing and believing that our weeping now will be turned to
joy, that we can keep moving forward. It is only in the God-man conquering all
things and defeating death for us, that there is any hope in this world.
God values life, so we value life. Not just one part but all
parts. The devil is easy to spot in this one. He is the one taking life and
destroying life, as is seen on our bulletin covers. Those then who call for
more life to be taken are not with God but against Him, because “…Christ
…suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to
God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit” (1 Peter
3:18) so that “…the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory
by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, [will] perfect, establish,
strengthen, and settle you” in the resurrection of all flesh (1 Pet
5:10).
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